Car opening and discharging device



July 27, 1926.

- C. A. MONEY CAR OPENING AND DISGHARGING DEVICE 2 snets-shet 1 Filed March 31 1923 A l /l/l/lll l/ ....I. 4. .xm .1.- ...i ...J .JVLL/.ILTL- r Y July 27 ,1926. 1,593,840

. c. A. MONEY CAR PENING AND DISCHARGING DEVICE' Filed March 31. 1923 l 2 sheets-sheet 2 plish this,

lijatented July 27, 1926.

UNIT-.ED S'lripiilitd CLARENCE A. MONEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLlNOS', ASSGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO JOHN M. WITHERSPOON, 0F CHANDLER, ARZONA, AND ONE-THERE TO VJILLIAM C. ENGLAR,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAR OPENING AND DISGHARGING DEVICE.

Application filed March 31, 1923.

Another object ot the invention is the 1U provision of new and improved mechanically operated means for opening loaded car doors, in connection with means tor discharging the car and operating the same from a common power shaft.

Other and further objects and advantages oi' the invention will become apparent trein a perusal of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a door opening and car discharging mechanism, parts in section, and parts omitted;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the door opening device;

F ig. Bis a section on line 3-3 ci Fig. 3, looking in the direction oit the arrows; and

F ig. 4 is a vertical section of the lower portion olf the door opening' device.

ln the transportation and handling of 0 coimnodities in bulk, such for instance as wheat, corn, oats and the like, it is often necessary to unload the conveyance ior storing the commodity or for trans-shipment or for other purposes, and in order to accomspecial equipment is provided tor this purpose. Usually track hoppers arranged in pairs are provided tor receiving the commodity from cars arranged on parallel tracks. From the hoppers the commod- 3 ity is transported by suitable conveyors to loins or receptacles or to any other place or places desired.

Un the drawings the reference cha acters and 11 designate track hopper gratings which are arranged above the track hopper-s, not shown, and which are separated irom each other by the bulk-head 12. Parallel tracks 13 and 11i are provided adjacent to the gratings v10 and 11 on which cars 15 and 16 are adapted to be run Jfor discharging their loads onto the gratings 10 and 11, respectively, as is usual in such constructions.

iter the inner car door 1? is removed in Serial No. 629,07*?.

a manner that will presently be described, the grain or other commodity in the car, that is not discharged by gravity, as indicated at 1S in Fig. 1, is discharged through the doorway 19 by means of a shovel 20, manipulated by an attendant and operated by any suitable means. The means shown comprises a cable 21, the upper end of which is attached to a drum 22, mounted on and rotated by the grain operating power shaft 23. The lower end or' the cable extends beneath a snatch-block or pulley 2st mounted on a bracket or stand rack secured to the bulk-head 12, and is attached to the shovel 20.. The drum 22 is operated by a suitable clutch which may be manually, but is preferably automatically, operated, and which causes the drum to alternately wind up the cable and permits it to be unwound by the attendant in manipulating the shovel. Since the clutch and its operating mechanism are no part of my invention, the same are shown only more or less diagrammatically on the drawings, and itis not thought necessary to describe the same. It-

is to be understood that if it is necessary or desirable, the shovel and its operating mechanism may be duplicated for simultaneously discharging the car on the opposite track 13. F or the purpose of clearness this duplicate mechanism is only roughly indicated on the drawings.

ln the shipment ot grain and the like, in box or freight cars, it is necessary to employ an inner door for preventing the escape o'f the commodity through the doorway. This inner door is usually nailed to the inner sides oi' the door posts 28. 1t is common practice to construct these doors in a plurality of sections. As shown, three sections 29, and 31, are employed.

lt is necessary to remove these sections before the grain and the like can be discharged from the cars. ln removing the sections it is desirable that they be removed without destroying or injuring the sections, and ior this reason it is necessary to force thel sections inwardly in order to withdraw the nails and then upwardly for the purpose oi removing` the same. Suitable mechanism for removing the sections ot the door is provided which will now be described:

Supporting members, such as the channel bars 32 and 33 are suitably supported in isa/ser vertically spaced relation as by being attached in any suitable manner to the upright members 34. The lower channel meinber 33 may, if desired, be supported on the bulk-head 12, as shown in Figure 1 of the drawing. A frame member 35, for supporting the door opening mechanism is mounted between the bars 32 and 33. TWhere the device is employed to operate on cars at each side thereof, as shown on the drawings, the frame is pivotally mounted so that it may be turned from the car on one side to the opposite one. Any suitable frame member may be employed for this purpose. ln the embodiment of the invention disclosed, the

frame member 35 comprises two parallel bars which may be in the form of lt-aeams 36 and 37, connected at their upper and lower ends by the tie or end members 38 and 39 as indicated in Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawing. rfrunnions 40 and 41 are rigidly secured to the tie members 38 and 39 and are adapted to engage sockets or journals 42 and 43 rigidly secured to the supporting members 32 and 33. This arrangeniient permits the frame to rotate about a vertu-,ai

Cri

axis and at the same time takes the side thrust of the door operating mechanism.

The trunnion 40, socket member 42 and the support 32 are provided with aligned. openings through which the threaded shaft 44 is adapted to extend. The upper end of the threaded shaft is provided with a bevel gear 45, which is adapted to engage the corresponding bevel gears 46 and 47 for rotating the shaft in either direction. The gears 46 and 47 are rotated in any suitable manner. As shown, they are rotated from the shovel power shaft 23 through the chain drive 48 in the usual manner. A clutch for operating the chain drive is shown conventionally at 49. The bevel gears 46 and 47 are loosely mounted on the shaft 50 and the spiral clutch 51 is adapted to engage either the hub of the bevel gear 46 or 47 to rotate the saine with the shaft 50 and thereby drive the threaded shaft 44 in either directon.

lt will be noted that the clutch 51 in the position shown in Figure 2 is in neutral position. rlhe clutch 51 may be operated in any suitable manner as by means of the clutch lever 52 which may be moved in either direction by suitable means, such the ropes or cords 53 and 54. A suitable ball thrust bearing 55, to absorb the downward thrust of the threaded shaft 44, is provided at the upper end of the shaft. The lower end of the threaded shaft 44 extends through suitable bearing 56, carried by the tie member 57. A suitable ball bearing thrust member 58 may be provided at the lower end of the shaft 44 for absorbing the upward thrustof said shaft.

A counter screw-threaded shaft 59 is mounted on the frame 35 parallel with the screw-threaded shaft 44. The shaft 59 is mounted in suitable bearings carried by the castings 60 and 61 which may be rigidly secured to the flanges of the I-beams 36 and 37 in any suitable manner as by means of bolts or rivets.

The lower end of the shaft 44 has a gear 62 keyed thereto, which is adapted to mesh with a corresponding gear 63, loosely mounted on the shaft 59. A suitable jaw clutch 64, operated in any suitable manner, as by means of the lever (35, is adapted to engage the hub of the gear 63 to cause the same to operate the shaft 59 from the shaft 44. The threads on the shafts 44 and 59 are right and left handed for a purpose that will presently appear.

The shaft 59 is provided with a traveling nut or fulcrum block 66. rlhe ends of the fulcrum block are reduced as at 67 on which are pivotally mounted plates 68 which are in turn rigidly secured to the lever member or arms 69. rFhe outer or free ends of the arms 69 are provided with the plates 70 which are adapted to be pivotally secured to the rearwardly extending lugs 71 on the door-engaging member 72 as by means of the pivot 7 3. The door-engaging member 72 may, if desired, be provided with a roughened surface or serrations 74, for preventing the same from slipping on the door sections during the removal of the saine.

1n order to tale the thrust from the shaft 59 the ends of the block 66 may be provided with roller bearings 75 operating in guideways formed by one of the flanges of each of the I-beams 37 and angle bars 76, secured in spaced relation thereto as by means of the brackets 77, as clearly shown in Figure 3.

Suitable means are provided for moving the lever member or radius rod 69 upwardly about its inner pivot to cause the same to engage the door sections of the car. Any suitable means may be provided for this purpose. As shown, the shaft 44 is provided with a traveling nut or trunnion block 78 which engages said shaft and is raised and lowered thereby. The trunnion block 78 is similar in construction to the block 66 and is also provided at its ends with rollers 75 for engaging in guideways formed by angle bars 79, secured to the web of the I-beams 36 and 37 in any suitable manner as by bolts or rivets. These guideways are adapted to tale the lateral thrust of the block 78. Pivotally secured to the block 7 8 is the push member or arms 80, the outer ends of which are secured to the head block 81. The head block 81 is adapt-ed to engage between the lugs 71 of the head 72 and is provided with an aperture through which the bolt 7 3 is adapted to engage.

In order to limit the downward pivotal lli) movement of the door engaging member 72 a block 82 may be secured between the lugs 7l which may be tapped for the recept-ion of a setscrew 83, which is adapted to engage a shoulder SLL on the head 81. By adjusting the setscrew 83 the downward pivotal movement of the head 7l may be limited to any desired angle.

In the loperation of the device the clutch levers 52 and 65 are operated to move the blocks 66 and 78 to the desired position for opening one or more of the sections of the inner door. After the member 72 is brought into engagement with the inner door the clutch 65 is thrown out and the shaft all is operated in the proper direction to cause the traveling' nut or fulcrum block 78 to move downwardly, thereby causing the door-engaging member vto move aboutl the block 66l as a center, with the lever member G9 as a radius as indicated in Fig. l of the drawing. The parts are so arranged that the fulc'rum block 66 is` above the section of the door| that is being removed, in order that the door may be forced inwardly and upwardly during the opening operation. If desired, the door-operating mechanism may be manipulated in a slightly different manner for opening the door sections. The sections may be forced inwardly to withdraw the lnails in the manner just described, after which both blocks 66 and 7 8 may be moved upwardly simultaneously, thereby moving the door section upwardly in a vertical plane. The right and left handed threads on the shafts 44 and 59 will cause the blocks 66 and 7 8 to travel in the same direction and to thereby permit of the movement which has just been described.

Then it is desired to remove another section of the door the blocks 66 and 78 are raised or lowered to the desired position by properly manipulating the clutches 51 and Git, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. By manually turning the frame 35 through 18() degrees the door may be removed from the car on the opposite track.

While the push member 80 is described as moving downward to operate the door-engaging member, it is under-stood that the trunnion block 7 8 may be positioned below said member and moved upwardly to operate the same equally as well.

After the door sections are removed a considerable amount of the grain runs out of the car and the remainder is discharged by the shovel 20.

It is thought from the foregoing taken in connection with the accompanying drawings that the construction and operation of my device will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and that various changes in size, shape, proportion and details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit and 'scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention 1l.. In a device of the class described, aV frame member, a link pivotally connected to said frame member, a door engaging eleT ment secured to said link, and means for moving said door engaging element first outwardly and then upwardly in a vertical plane.

2. In a car opening device, a frame member, means pivotally connected to said frame member for opening a grain door of an adjacent grain car, and means for moving said first-.named means outwardly to move said door inwardly, and for raising and lowering the same.

3. In a car opening device, a door engaging member adapted to engage a door, means for moving said member outwardly to. move said door inwardly and means for moving said member vertically with a movement of pure translation.

In a device of the class described, a frame, a door engaging member, arm and link members connected to said door engaging member and mechanism carried by said frame for operating one of said members independently of, or simultaneously with, the other member.

5. In. a device of the class described, a frame, a ydoor engaging element, a lever member fulcrumed on said frame and con nected to said door engaging element, an arm for moving said lever member, mechanism carried by said frame for o erating said arm and means for changing t e position of the fulcrum of said lever member.

6. In a device of the class described, a frame, right and left handed screw threaded shafts journaled in said frame, a fulcrum block threaded on one of said members, a trunnion block threaded on the other of said members, a door engaging member, a link or lever joivotally connecting said fulcrum block and said door engaging member, an arm member pivotally connected to said trunnion block and to said door engaging member, means for rotating one of said shafts in either direction and means for rotating the other shaft simultaneously therewith but in the opposite direction.

7. In a device of the class described, a frame, a pair of threaded shafts journaled in said frame, traveling nuts on said shafts, a lever member pivotally connected to one of said nuts, a push member pivotally connected to the other of said nuts, a door engaging member pivot-ally connected to the free ends of said members and means for causing forward or reverse movement of each of said shafts.

8. In a device of the class described, a frame member, means for mounting said frame so that it may pivot about a substantially vertical axis, a door engaging member and means carried by said frame member for moving said door engaging member outwardly and upwardly with a movement of pure translation relative to said frame member.

9. ln a device of the class described, a Yframe member including I-beam side meinbers, means 'for pivotally mounting said .trame in said ysupport for swinging the frame about an upright axis, a main threaded shaft and a counter threaded shaft jour naled in said iranie, intermeshing gears carried by said shafts, a clutch associated with said counter shaft for causing the same to rotate simultaneously with the said main shaft, a clutch for rotating said main shaft in either direction and simultaneously with or independently of said counter shaft, a I'ulcrum block threaded on said counter shaft, a trunnion block threaded on said main shaft, means including` guide-Ways carried by said I-beams for taking the lateral thrust of said blocks, a door engaging 1nem ber, a lever member pivoted to said ulcrum block and to said door engaging member, a push member pivotally connected to said trunnion block and to said door engaging member', and means for adjustably limiting the pivotal movement of said door engaging member.

l0. In a device of the class described, supporting members, a 'frame member, means including a hollow trunnion for revolubly mounting said frame member on said supn porting members, a door engaging member and means including a threaded 'shaft extending through said holloW-trunnion for operating said door engaging member.

l1. In a device of the class described, a frame member including side beams, guide- Ways carried by said beams, blocks having anti-friction devices engaging said guide- Ways, means for moving said blocks in said guide-ways, a door engaging member and means carried by said blocks for operating said door engaging member.

CLARENCE A. MONEY. 

